Excavating-machine.



D. W. MILLER. EXGAVATING MACHINE.

APPLIOATION FILED PEBJI, 1908.

Patented Dec.6,1910.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

(Q 9 K N g NV 1: Q

. D. W. MILLER.

EXGAVATING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED 1 312.11, 1908 977,822. Patented Dec. 6,1910.

2 SHEETS-SHBET 2.

EXGAVATING-MACHIN E.

Original application filed January 8, 1907, Serial No. 351,347.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, DAVID WV. MILLER,

a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Excavating-Machines, of which the following is a divisional specification of an application filed January 8, 1907, Serial No. 351,347.

I This invention relates to improvements in excavating machines of that type in which the excavator is embodied in the form of a rotary wheel which is supported and carried along by a traveling wagon and progressively excavates the ditch in the rear of the excavator.

Among the salient objects of the invention are to provide a-machine of the character referred to, the excavator wheel of which carries a series of diggers and buckets which operate to loosen the soil and carry it upwardly out of the ditch; to provide a construction which is more particularly adapted for use in heavy soils such as wet clay, etc; to provide a construction inwhich the buckets are pivotally mounted upon the wheel so as to be bodily tilted to discharge the soil therefrom; to provide in a construction of this character mechanism for automatically tilting the buckets as they successively rise to their discharging position; to provide means for normally holding the buckets in fixed position to scoop up the loosened soil; to provide a construction in which the buckets are supported between a double rimmed wheel; to provide improvements in the details of construction and arrangement of the wagon whereby the excavator wheel may be raised and lowered and otherwise manipulated, the wagon and excavator propelled slowly and at a rate suitable to effect continued excavation of a ditch, and the wagon propelled at a single higher rate of speed when it is desired to transport the excavator from one place to another; and in general to provide an improved construction of the character referred to.

To the above ends the invention consists in the matters hereinafter described and more particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

The invention will be understood from the Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 6, 1910.

Divided and this application filed [February Serial No. 415,314.

following description reference being had to the accompanying drawings in which Figure 1 is a side elevation of the excavator wheel together with part of the supporting frame. Fig. 2 is a fragmentary perspective view of a portion of the double rim showing the manner of supporting the buckets. Figs. 3 and 1 are respectively a top plan view and side elevation of the pre ferred driving mechanism parts being broken away to reduce the size of the drawing. Fig. 5 is a fragmentary perspective view of one of the diggers. Referring to the drawings 1 designates as a whole a suitable wagon or operating truck to which is operatively connected an excavator wheel designated as a whole 2. Describing first this excavator wheel, it comprises a frame member 3 of duplex construction, comprising two main peripheral rings 4, corresponding sets of spokes 5 at each side of the wheel, a suitable hub frame 6, and main axle 7.

8 designates the buckets which are open,

at their front end only and are pivotally mounted on pivot shafts 9 between the main rlngs 1; the pivotal axis of each bucket extends transversely of the bucket about in the plane of its bottom and midway of the bucket, considered radially. The operating or excavating position of the buckets is shown in the lower half of Fig. 1, in which position the buckets are normally locked by means of a peculiar locking mechanism now to be described. Describing this mechanism, 11 designates a locking bar mounted in guides 12 and extending across the mouth of the bucket when the latter is in operative position. At each side thereof the bucket is provided with stop lugs 13, and the locking bar with stops 14, normally registering with the lugs 13 and holding the latter positively against swinging outwardly. The stop bar is normally held in position to thus lock the bucket by means of a coiled contractile spring 15. In order to shift the locking bar endwise against the tension of the spring and into position to release the bucket, a cam rod 16 is provided, which is mounted to extend radially with reference to the wheel through suitable guides 17 and 18. Adjacent to its outer end the cam rod is provided with a laterally obliquely inclined cam projection 19 which engages a cam projection 20 on the locking bar. Each cam rod is provided with a cam roller 22. Upon the supportincr boom 23, hereinafter described, is mounted a cam 24 so shaped and arranged as to force the cam and rod radially outwardly at that moment when the bucket has been carried upwardly to a position slightly above the level of the main axis of the excavator wheel. In order to tilt the bucket outwardly and insure its reversal, each cam rod is provided with a tappet projection 25. so disposed as to engage the inner side of the bucket during the outward movement of the cam rod and shortly after the latter has released the locking bar. Each bucket as itfalls over and reaches a nearly inverted position, strikes against the fixed stop 26 upon the wheel frame which arrests it in the dumping position shown at the left hand side of Fig. 1. As the bucket is carried around with the wheel it is finally brought into a position where it reverses itself back to its original position, and in so doing automatically restricts the lookingbar and snaps into locking position. In order to prevent the bucket from swinging inwardly too far and thus move into locked position, each bucket is provided at each end with a stop lock 27 adapted to encounter the corresponding frame ring.

The excavating wheel is also provided with a series of diggers 30 which are rigidly connected with the wheel frame by means of shanks 31 which extend inwardly and are connected to the spokes as shown at 32. These diggers are preferably formed of strap steel bent into suitable shape to form an outer loop or cutter 33. In order to better withstand the strain upon them the diggers are likewise provided with braces 34 which connect the diggers with the outer rings of the wheel.

In order to support the excavating wheel I employ a pair of boom members 2-3 heretofore referred to. These boom members are connected to a rectangular strut frame 35 which may be braced in any suitable manner, and the upper portions of said strut frame are connected with the respective boom members 23 at points remote from the strut frame by means of tension bars 36.

Bet-ween the booms is mounted by means of suitable bearings 3.7 the excavator wheel. The lower end of the strut frame is formed by a transverse rock bar 38 which is journaled in suitable bearing supports mounted upon the main side frame members of the wagon 1 near the rear end of the latter. This strut frame, and with it the excavator wheel supported thereby is oscillated by means of cables 39- connected to driving mechanism'hereinafter more particularly described.

around the entire outer periphery of one of the rings 4 is arranged a set of sprocket teeth, and around these teeth are trained an endless belt 40, which is likewise trained around a driving sprocket 41 mounted upon the strut frame and which serves to rotate the wheel now to be described.

The driving sprocket 41 is sleeved to a companion sprocket 42 and the two mounted upon a suitable shaft 43 extending across the strut frame. The sprocket 42 is driven by a belt44 from another pair of sprockets 45 and 46 respectively. Sprocket 46 is driven by a belt 47 which leads forwardly to and is connected with a sprocket 48 so mounted upon a transverse shaft 49 suitably journaled uponthe wagon. Shaft 49 is driven from a main shaft 50 which is journaled to extendilongitudinally of the wagon; the beveled gear 51 on said main shaft servs5 ing to transmit motion to a second beveled gear 52 on shaft 49. The clutch 53 controlled by a bell-crank-lever 54, hand lever 55 and connectingroid 56, serves to throw the sprocket 48 into and out of gear with so shaft 49.

For raising and lowering the excavating wheel, so as to vary the depth of cut or elevate the wheel for transportation, a chain .39 is connected with the upper end of the strut frame 35 (not shown) and also with windlass drums 59 mounted upon a cross shaft 60 jour-naled in the main frame of the wagon. Shaft 60 carries a worm gear 61, the upper periphery of which is engaged and actuated'by a worm shaft 62 which is in turn driven by a sprocket 63 mounted thereon. Sprocket 63 is connected with another sprocket 6 4 on the main shaft by a sprocket belt, and the sprocket 64 is controlled by the clutch 65 and hand lever 66 for operating the same. V

For propelling the machine along slowly, so as to excavate a ditch progressively and for propelling the machine at a more rapid speed when transporting it from place to place, driving connections are provided as follows: Upon the main shaft 50 is mounted a sprocket 67 which is belted to a sprocket 68 upon a worm shaft 69 carrying a worm 11 70. The worm actuates a gear 71 upon a transverse shaft 72 which latter is provided with a pinion 73 which meshes with a gear 74 upon another transverse shaft, 75. The shaft 75 carries at each end pinions as '76,t 1 77, which enga e and drive relatively large spur gears 7 8' upon main traction wheels 79. This is the low speed drive. For transporting the machine more rapidly shaft 72 is driven from the shaft 49: through the me dium of a sprocket '80, mounted upon said shaft and belted to another sprocket 81 upon the shaft 72. The driving connections between gear 71 and shaft 72:, andjbetween sprockets 81 and shaft 72 are controlled by 0 means of a pair of clutches 83 and 84L re spectively; the movable members of these two clutches being linked together as indicated at 85 and actuated by a bell-crank 86 and hand lever 87. The arran ement is such that the clutches are thrown into gear alternatively, and when the clutches are in their intermediate position both are out.

of gear. A differential gear mechanism 88 is interposed in the shaft 7 5, the center member of this differential being engaged and driven by the spur gear 73.

The soil discharged from the buckets is directed by means of an apron or chute 28 upon one or'more conveyer belts 29 which are suitably mounted on frames 29 supported from the strut frame and wagon. The lower rolls 91 of the belt or belts are positively driven so as to actuate the belts. To this end driving connections from the main shaft comprises a sprocket 92 mounted upon the latter and controlled by a clutch 93,'a counter shaft 94 j ournaled in the lower part of the wagon frame and forming the shaft upon which one of the rollers 91 is mounted, a sprocket 95 upon the shaft 94 belted to the sprocket 92, a parallel shaft 94' constituting the shaft upon which the pinion drive roller 91 is mounted, and spur gears 96, 97 operatively connected to shafts 94.

The main shaft 50 is rotated by a pair of engines A and B mounted upon the wagon frame which receives steam from a boiler C also carried by the wagon.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a wheel excavator, an excavating wheel, a series of dumping buckets carried thereby, each bucket being pivoted in rear of its center of gravity, means for holding the buckets in rigid operative position, until they arrive at a certain point, means for successively withdrawing said holding means to permit each bucket to be turned or dumped by gravity, and a fixed stop against which the bucket falls when discharging its contents.

2. In a wheel excavator, an excavating wheel, a series of buckets carried thereby, means for bodily oscillating said buckets to discharge the soil therefrom when the buckdischarged from said buckets onto the con-.

veyer.

5. In a wheel excavator, an exEavating wheel, a series of gravity-dumping buckets carried thereby, each bucket being pivoted in rear of its center of gravity, and provided with an endwise-movable locking-bar, coengaging stops for holding the bucket in rigid operative position, and cam-actuated means for successively tripping the buckets when they arrive at dumping position.

6. In a wheel excavator, an excavating Wheel, a bucket pivotally mounted on said Wheel, means for holding said bucket in rigid operative position, and means for releasing said bucket and positively oscillating it to discharge the soil therefrom.

7 An excavating wheel, the combination with an excavating bucket pivotally mounted thereon, of means for positively holding said bucket in operative position during the major part of its travel, and means for releasing the bucket automatically to discharge the soil therefrom.

8. In an excavating wheel the combination with a series of excavating buckets pivotally mounted on the rim of the wheel, means for positively holding said buckets in rigid operative position during part of their travel, and means for automatically releasing them to discharge the soil therefrom.

DAVID W. MILLER.

Witnesses:

LOIS Fonon, FRANK L. BELKNAP. 

